A device for magnetically annealing magnetoresistive elements formed on wafers includes a heated chuck and a delivery mechanism for individually placing the wafers individually on the chuck one at a time. A coil is adjacent to the chuck and generates a magnetic field after the wafer is heated to a Neel temperature of an anti-ferromagnetic layer. A control system regulates the temperature of the heated chuck, the strength of the magnetic field, and a time period during which each chuck is heated to control the annealing process. The annealed elements are incorporated in the fabrication of magnetic memory devices.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
The present application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/229,136, filed on Aug. 28, 2002, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,918,965, the disclosure of which is incorporated in its entirety herein by reference.
